Why It Happens
by iccypenguin
Summary: Natalie has friends; but she isn’t popular. She’s an exceptional runner; but she can never compete against the captain. She’s pretty; but she doesn’t have a boyfriend. She’s beginning to wonder...could it be that what you are is all you’ll ever become?
1. Prologue

_**READY.**_

Natalie Johnson can run. She knows how to take that last victorious step and over come all types of obstacles in her way. She knows when to speed up and when to slow down just in time.

_**SET.**_

What she doesn't know is how to deal with her mom. How to tell her the truth about what dad has been doing. What she doesn't know is how to tell dad to stop; to tell him when enough is enough.

What she doesn't know is why her friends are pretending she didn't exist; why Mrs. Cullen can't seem to register the fact that, no, she just doesn't have a 'talent' for geometry.

She doesn't know why she can't stand Michael Krauss and why he seems to make her life more miserable by the minute. She doesn't know why Valerie Brace suddenly welcomed her to her posse after weeks of the cold-shoulder or why Heath Hudson took such a flattering interest in her after two years.

_**GO.**_

She doesn't know why things happen. Sometimes, Natalie Johnson is just Natalie Johnson. And sometimes, all she can do is run and keep on running.


	2. Catch Me If You Can't

_**Why I hate falling…**_

Natalie was falling. She knew she was falling but there is nothing she can do about it. She can feel the floor rushing at her, her feet sliding on something slippery and her hair meeting the quick pull of air. She shut her eyes, waiting for the inevitable.

Two things went through her mind; the first being how hard she would hit the ground, and the next was what would happen _after_ she hits the ground.

But as surprising and unbelievable as it turned out, she never had a chance to meet with the hard black and white tiles. She hit something-rather, someone.

She opened her eyes, inches closer to Heath Hudson's hazel green ones than ever before. "You okay?" She could feel his breath on her neck.

She nodded, although she was anything but. She can already feel the oncoming rush of humiliation. Heath Hudson's familiar sent wafted through her and finally reached her brain. It didn't help with the words she had chosen since she was only familiar with his scent due to her constant stalking.

It took her a moment to realize her thoughts aren't exactly preventing the blush of red creeping up her neck.

It also took her a while to register the huffing of Valerie Brace beside the two, having witnessed the scene.

Heath pulled away just as quickly as he had caught her.

"I'm fine," Natalie stuttered to break the icy pulsation vibrating though the air. Her mind rewound back to the falling part of this scenario. _What if I sprained an ankle? _It might not seem like a huge possibility from as feeble of a fall as one can get in the cafeteria, but considering the subject in question, she wouldn't put it past herself to accomplish such a thing. With a broken ankle, she wouldn't be able to run. Which is ironic to the cause of her fall in the first place. Having Valerie Brace congratulate her on last Saturday's meet would be cruel degradation when the next time she sees Natalie she'd be in a cast.

"Don't be late for practice," and with a toss of her blazing red hair, Valerie shifted elegantly toward her group of less beautiful but equally popular friends.

She nodded once again as Heath whispered a 'see ya' and were swallowed up by his own group. She froze at the spot before finally realizing how idiotic she must look, standing in the middle of the cafeteria. Normally, Natalie would discredit her sluggish brain due to the morning, but since it's the afternoon, she really had nothing to blame other than-well, her sluggish brain.

She slipped into the seat next to her group-which only consists of a tiny threesome.

Hayley Pratt gazed at her with a bit of worry, "was it that bad?" Her brown eyes were sympathetic, telling Natalie she had observed the scene.

In response, Natalie groaned, barely preventing herself from ramming her head onto the lunch table. She felt a compatible pat on her shoulder but didn't bother to acknowledge it.

"From my point of view, I thought it looked cute." Natalie squinted her eyes at Hayley, questioning her sanity. In response to her best friend's expression, Hayley perked, "you took a little slip and Prince Charming came just in time to rescue you. Kind of like a fairy tale, right?" She widened her blue eyes suggestively.

"Sure," Natalie muttered, not even bothering to contradict Hayley's thinking. She let out another groan as she thought back to her clumsiness, "What did I even slip on?"

"Banana," Liz waved the yellow fruit in front of their eyes.

"Did the janitors mop the floors today?" Natalie turned to her, ignoring her nonsense for an answer since Liz had always been the perspicuous one.

Instead Hayley shrugged, allowing her curls to bounce on her shoulders.

"It's a banana," was all Liz said.

"Maybe you just slipped," Hayley offered bluntly. Natalie winced inwardly, knowing she tend to do that a lot without the help of mopped floors.

"It's a banana."

Annoyed, Natalie turned towards Liz, "no one cares about a banana."

"No, you slipped on one."

They all stared blankly at her for a second, trying to comprehend this information. It wasn't long before Hayley and Liz were cracking up.

Natalie frowned as she tried her best to ignore her friends' distractive laughter, "a banana." She shook her head in disbelief. The one time Valerie praised her was the one time she chose to slip on a _banana_.

She can just imagine what Valerie thinks of her now. She took a side-ways glance at the table towards the front, staring at the huddled bundle of white t-shirts and maroon skirts. Just then, the cluster of girls laughed unnecessarily loud at something Valerie said. A few from the group flipped their hair over their shoulders as they scanned the cafeteria in hopes of an audience.

Perhaps it was due to her paranoia, Natalie thought Valerie had caught her eyes before she quickly turned away in panic.

_A fairy tale with Prince Charming. Right._

_**It's too scary. And humiliating.**_

_**But also exhilarating at the same time. Kind of like falling in love. But for future warning, make sure you have someone to catch you in the first place.**_


	3. Little Slips of Horror

_**Why I hate art…**_

The blob of paint on the paper plate stared back at its creator with the same muddled confusion. Natalie frowned and tilted her head, trying to find any resemblance of the blue that she had just mixed in.

It's been the second week of class and Natalie came up with a philosophy of her own. Art is like math. You add two colors and you'd get another color. Add red with yellow and you'd get orange; just like if you add two plus two you'd get four. However, when you add blue with yellow, you don't get green' which is something Natalie had always assumed. She sighed as she threw her unsuccessful attempt in a nearby garbage disposal. She now stared at the blank paper plate before her, a paintbrush dripping with a questionable color as she prepared herself for another failure.

She also learned another philosophy during her time spent in a class. She has no talent. Not in math and certainly not in art.

She felt a light tap on her shoulder and she turned to see Mrs. Albano leaning over her and Natalie was suddenly grateful she had thrown away her experiment earlier before. "Mrs. Cullen wishes to speak with you."

Natalie pointed at her project, which consisted only of a few pencil marks just as a neighboring student walked by holding a completed colored piece of artwork. "Sorry, I have to catch up on this," she said with a shrug, "I'll stop by tomorrow after school." She bit her lip, knowing the chances of her staying after school to do anything with Mrs. Cullen.

Mrs. Albano seemed to consider the dilemma for a moment before replying, "Mrs. Cullen said it was important." With that, the art director slipped a pass to Natalie, who let out a sigh of despair. She can only imagine why Mrs. Cullen wants to see her.

***

The ticking of a clock can be heard, the only sound that echoed in the classroom of D113. Mrs. Cullen gazed at Natalie with an unwavering stare as Natalie met her opponent with the same iciness and determination.

After a moment of silence, Mrs. Cullen stated, "You need this."

Natalie affirmed just as shortly, "I can do it on my own."

She'd been saying those same words to her geometry teacher since the beginning of the year and Mrs. Cullen seemed to have caught on, "you and I know that won't work anymore."

Having nothing else to defend herself, Natalie pursed her lips.

Sighing, Mrs. Cullen shook her head as if to rid of a headache, "Natalie, if you don't pull up your grades soon…"

"I'm trying," Natalie relented, "but I just didn't have enough time, that's all. Last night I had to babysit and then there was a track meet. I couldn't have possibly crammed in for the test."

"If your schedule is too busy, perhaps you should allow some of your lesser priorities go until you can find a balance between your school work and your social life." Natalie almost scoffed at her words. _If only she knew how much of a social life I have._ "However," her teacher continued, "if you're not responsible enough to make that choice on your own, I'll have to make that decision for you."

In her chair with the hard wooden seat pressed uncomfortably against her, Natalie froze. "Really," she quickly stammered, "I won't disappoint you in the next test."

"I've given you plenty of tests this year Natalie, and you gave me plenty of disappointment. Either way, your protests would be futile. I've already assigned you a tutor."

"Tutor?"

Mrs. Cullen nodded, "he's an excellent student, one that can pull your average up past a B if you'll just give him a try."

Natalie clenched her teeth, trying to overcome the wave of emotion rolling towards her. There is no way she can possibly accept a tutor. Tutors are for stupid people. They're for people who don't understand a thing in class, people who are dense and brainless. Natalie Johnson is anything but brainless.

"That's simply out of the question," she said stiffly. She can only imagine what Valerie Brace would think of having a dim-witted runner. Being the captain of the JV track team, Valerie is capable of kicking out any weak runners. From the way Valerie sees it, a slow thinker is a slow runner.

"No," Mrs. Cullen gave the same authoritative tone that only cruel math teachers can possess, "your refusal is out of the question." As if to prove her point, she pulled open her desk drawer and brought out a pink pad.

Natalie gawked at the pink slips in horror. "You-you can't…"

Pen poised in position, Mrs. Cullen narrowed her eyes at her student, "I _will_ pull you off the team if I have to"

_The team is all I have._ Before Natalie could speak another word, Mrs. Cullen pushed a separate blue slip-a pass as Natalie can conclude-towards her student, "he's waiting for you in the library. You should meet him to discuss the scheduling. Of course, he will have the benefit of a reward for his assistance. If you wish, I can call your parents and-"

"No need to bother." Then, as to assure her persistent teacher, Natalie added, "they're at work. I'll talk to them about it." She can only imagine her mother's expression if Mrs. Cullen called about the news. "I should go," she announced as she got up tensely with one hand clenching the blue slip of death.

"Yes, of course," Mrs. Cullen seemed taken by surprise, "he's been waiting for you. You should go as quickly as you can." She gave Natalie a reassuring smile.

Natalie gave her the same response, only hers hid the real emotion boiling within. _I'll find him alright_, her scorching anger threatened to burst within her, _and when I do,_ _I'll tear him limb-by-limb_. _But first_, she veered steeply in the opposite direction from the library and sped towards the tracks, _I have my 'social life' to take care of._

_**It's stupid and I suck at it. Like geometry.**_

_**I hate it almost as much as math teachers. Almost.**_


	4. Invitations

_**Why I hate parties…**_

Natalie was mad. No, Natalie wasn't just mad-she was _furious_. She was filled with the kind of rage that seems to infuriate over everything and scorch through all emotions and feelings. She doesn't understand why Mrs. Cullen has to be so difficult. It wasn't like she'd never tried. She did; countless times she'd crack open her math book and practically tied herself to the chair but she just don't understand what's so important in proving two triangles are congruent. She doesn't understand why Mrs. Cullen is so eager into forcing her towards one path. It all seemed pointless to her.

There are many things that she doesn't understand and many more that she never will. But she knows how to use her feet, how to put one foot beyond the other-stretching a bit more, going a bit farther than she could. She understands how to run. She understands how to pull herself further, how to push her limit, wishing this was all that she could hear; the pounding of her heart against the bitter cold wind. It feels amazing, her body slicing through the air like an arrow-an arrow free to slip through the heavens, hitting victory aimlessly.

"Natalie!"

She jogged to a stop having heard her name, surprised to see Valerie sprinting to catch up.

"Didn't you hear us calling you?" asked a blond girl, Wendy, coming right behind Valerie.

Natalie self-consciously ran her fingers through her knotted hair, feeling the loose strands swaying side to side with her every movement. She looked at Valerie's flawless flow of red, glistening in the bright afternoon sun and suddenly wished she can redo her ponytail without anyone noticing. "Um," she stalled, "no…"

Wendy frowned at Natalie's lack of a response so she offered, "I guess I was just distracted by running." She tried to give a reassuring smile but it ended up looking sheepish.

Valerie nodded in approval, "It's good to concentrate on running."

"Yeah," Raina bobbed her head eagerly, "good thinking Natalie."

However, Natalie didn't hear a word that Raina said, her attention drawn to Valerie in a way that she couldn't help but rudely stare. Her heart pounded as she attempts to decipher any hidden meaning behind their words. It had become apparent right from the start that she wasn't welcomed in their group, so why now?

"Want to join us?" Valerie gave her a bright smile as Natalie stared at her in shock.

"Um, sure." Her heart skipped a beat as she tried register what was happening. She has no way to explain Valerie's sudden change of attitude. After what happened in the cafeteria earlier today-Natalie still blushes whenever she thinks of Heath holding her in that single moment-she figured Valerie loathed her.

It wasn't a secret that Heath and Valerie had a history. They've been together ever since they were freshmen. Now, near the beginning of junior year, they called it quits. Rumors flew around that Heath cheated on Valerie but a factual reason was never presented. Natalie had heard about Heath ever since she started high school and long before that since he had always been considered as the head of the popular crowd. She then knew him when they turned up in some of the same classes this year and she held a crush on him ever since. Even when she had semi-believed in the rumor about the two she still held on. Eventually, she reasoned with herself that Heath wouldn't do such a thing since he was nice enough to pick up her books when someone bumped her in the hallways one day. She knows it's not a reasonable argument, but then again, not everything has to be reasonable to her.

They started off with a slow jog, Natalie having recovered from her fierce sprint from earlier before. When she was running alone, she knew how fast to go but now that she's in a group, she finds it incredibly difficult for her to find the rhythmic pace that used to come so naturally to her.

"Did you hear about the party on Saturday?" Natalie overheard someone say. She began to wonder if the person was directing the question at her. To prevent from looking stupid in case they weren't, Natalie pretended not to have heard anything.

"Nat? You don't mind us calling you Nat right?" Raina continued.

"What? Oh, no," Natalie smiled. The only people that ever call her Nat are Hayley and Liz.

"Well, are you?" pressed Wendy.

Natalie never knew there was a party this week-or any week for that matter. She wasn't the type of person to be invited to such things. She considered nodding but she figured things could end up badly if she shows up without an invite. Finally, she settled with an "I don't know yet."

Out of the corner of her eye, Valerie titled her head towards her direction, "Freddy always has a hangout every week, so you wouldn't be missing much." Natalie's heart drop, knowing Valerie's words were meant to be hostile. After a few steps, Valerie continued, "but if you need a ride or something," Natalie's eyes widened, knowing how immense of a step it is to be driven by Valerie Brace, "I can probably-"

A whistle blew through the air as Coach Melanie waved at the girls who turned their heads at the noise, "Johnson!" She made a gesture to summon Natalie, who silently cursed her coach for interrupting the moment.

Without another word due to the fear that she'll say something stupid, Natalie broke away from the group and ran across the grass.

"Yeah?" she panted, still clearly annoyed at the interlude.

Coach Melanie gestured with her thumb to the boy next to her, "he's here to see you. Something about a tutor?"

_**I never get invited. Enough said.**_


	5. Riddle Me This, Riddle Me That

_**Why I hate puzzles…**_

Natalie prevented the urge to crack her knuckles as she thought back to her previous idea of taking her future tutor out limb-by-limb. If the sight hadn't made her question whether this boy would break in half from a hit, she wouldn't even bother wasting her time to crack her knuckles and instead dive straight for him.

"Who are you?" she hissed at him, trying to play innocent despite her tone.

The boy squinted his eyes at her and made an appalled expression, "we were supposed to meet at the library."

"Natalie, who is this?" She can feel the questioning eyes of Coach Melanie boring into her.

"Just… a friend."

"I'm not your friend."

"Can you tell your 'friend' to meet up with you _after_ practice?" Melanie shifted on one foot, allowing the other to tap impatiently on the pavement, making her an inch shorter than already necessary.

Natalie looked down at her coach. _She might be short, but small things can also be fierce._ She learned that philosophy when she saw Melanie yell at a freshman for skipping practice. "Excuse us for a moment, Coach."

Natalie pulled the boy-she didn't bother asking for a name considering she's determined to ditch him as soon as possible-aside.

He frowned, either at her touch or his next comment, "you don't have your books."

Natalie pointed at her maroon shorts and T-shirt, "this is track." She prevented herself from adding a 'duh'. _Play nice, you need him to go away without making a scene._

The boy decided that this is a waste of time and went straight to the point, "you talked to Mrs. Cullen?"

"Uh-huh." Already, Natalie was growing wary of this conversation.

"Didn't Mrs. Cullen tell you to meet a Michael at the library?"

"No." Which isn't a complete lie considering Mrs. Cullen never specified on _who_ she was supposed to meet there.

"She _did_ mention about a tutor right? Michael Krauss?"

Natalie took this opportunity to escape, "I don't know a Michael."

He held her back by her elbow, gripping harder than required. Natalie saw a flicker of insult before he quickly masked it with a cool expression, "I'm in your class."

She titled her head as she observed the brown air and freckles that cascaded around his face. Now that she thought about it, she knew he looked familiar. "Oh, yeah. I knew that."

Michael kept his icy expression unchanged, clearly unconvinced by her words.

"Anyway," she quickly dismissed the topic with a voice he's learning to hate, "I'll take care of the whole tutoring thing myself."

"Mrs. Cullen knew you would say that."

"And I know you'll just tell her that you're tutoring me." Natalie took a step forward and eyed him through the glare of his glasses.

This only caused him to straighten his back, leveling the two completely, "how about you just get a tutor like you're told?"

"Do you ever do what you're told?"

"If it's the best thing for me."

"_Running_ is the only best thing I need."

"And also a tutor." Michael wrinkled his nose as if he smelled something bad.

"Look, we obviously have our…," she stared at his polo shirt as she struggled to continue, "differences. Why don't we settle this with a simple goodbye?"

He held her by the arm again, "you need a tutor and I need a job, that's as simple as it gets." He cut her off before she can begin, "tomorrow. At noon. Your house. I don't care what you do, you can't stop me from coming. Now _this_ is when you say goodbye." With that, he ditched her before she had a chance to ditch him.

***

By the time she returned to the track, practice was over. Valerie and her group of friends were leaving the locker room just as she approached it. Natalie couldn't help but wonder if Valerie would ever consider inviting her to that party ever again. To make matters worse, she had to tell Melanie about the tutoring situation. She's willing to risk the chance of Mrs. Cullen calling her parents, since her mother never pays attention to Natalie's life these days and her father is never home at all. If anything, Melanie would be the one to react the most. To her great relief, she was willing to keep her on the team as long as her grades are being pulled up. This being the case, Natalie knew she would definitely need Michael's help now.

Her shoulder slumped and a lump clogged her throat as she exited the locker room. She had missed the one opportunity offered by Valerie. It wasn't like she'd replace Liz and Hayley with anyone else in the world; it's just difficult to balance their different schedules. _I was so close to having friends again_. Now she's left with nothing but a stupid tutor to worry about.

"Natalie?" She spun around and saw Heath, for once not even noticing he was within a 5 mile radius from her. He took a peek at her, "you okay?"

Her shoulders slumped again as she remembered why she was in such a gloomy mood to start with, "just had a crisis."

"Crisis?"

She nodded, not bothering to say anymore. _He would think I'm stupid too._

"Do you need a ride?"

Natalie glanced at him with a blank expression before looking over her shoulder, "me?"

He let out a chuckle-one that she couldn't help but note to be different than the ones he gave his friends-and held up his keys suggestively, "well?"

She began to stutter, the thumping of her heart preventing her from thinking clearly. _Don't be stupid_, she told herself. _Too late. I need a tutor, remember?_

The bitter remark brought her back to reality, "sure. I guess I can use a ride." She worried if she sounded casual enough. _Perhaps too casual? What if he thinks I'm not interested? But then again, why would he be interested if I was interested?_ Her head spun with her thoughts as the two walked towards his car.

Heath snuck a glance at her as they climbed into a convertible with no top, "do you mind?"

"What?" she perked, lost in her own thoughts. She quickly caught herself, "no! This is awesome. I totally want a car like this." She flashed him a smile as he looked at her questionably.

"Really? I thought most girls hate getting their hair messed up."

"I…" she was at a lost. Natalie bet she's better at geometry than talking with guys like Heath. "I just like the wind in my hair."

"Cool." Luckily, he shrugged it off like it wasn't the stupidest thing she had ever said.

It was silent for a while as Natalie ordered herself not to talk after she gave him his address. She began to worry about what mom would think, seeing a guy drop her off, but she dispelled the concern, remembering how little her mother cared about these days.

"Great job at the meet on Saturday by the way."

She stared at her lap, thankful her hair acted as a curtain to hide her blush, "thanks."

"If you keep this going, I think you have a chance at being captain next year."

Her eyes widened. The record for youngest captain was junior year, held by Valerie herself. If she can be captain by the same time, would that put her in the same position as Valerie?

She shrugged, "I don't know." This time, she meant it. She honestly has no idea what Valerie think of her. It was, after all, tradition to have the current captain pick the new replacement. There's also the fact that Valerie might want to _stay_ captain.

"Why not?"

She laid out silence, pondering how to answer his oddly difficult questions. She didn't want him to think she's not confident-that is, if he's into the confident type-but yet she didn't want to offend him if her words implied replacing Valerie. At this point, she has no idea what he thinks of his ex girlfriend.

"I'd understand," he said in reply to the silence she gave him, "if you don't want to tell me."

Words struggled to travel through her throat and past her lips. She doesn't know what would be the correct response to his sympathy and before she could figure it out, he changed the subject completely.

"Did you hear about Freddy's party Saturday?"

"Yeah, I think I remember hearing about it somewhere." _Total understatement_.

"Are you going?"

Her body tensed as the same dilemma presented to her for the second time that day, "I don't know yet." She's beginning to wonder if Heath finds her insensitive and indecisive.

"Oh, I never see you at Fred's." His statement made Natalie wonder if he's pointing out how pathetic of a social life she posses. He parked the car in front of her driveway and turned towards her, "I was kind of hoping I'd see you there."

"I…" Natalie froze like a deer caught in headlights.

"It'll be fun, you know," he urged, "if you count chilling around and lying back as fun." He gave her a sheepish smile, tugging at a corner of his lips. "But I never see you. Besides practice of course, but I don't think that actually counts."

"I think I have to check in with someone first." She didn't bother to use the excuse of her parents, knowing how lame it would be to tell him that she has to ask them for permission. _Besides_, she concluded, _they wouldn't care._

"If you ever change your mind," Heath Hudson looked at her in the eyes, making the air just a bit harder to take in, "you should bring a date. It's not required but most people bring their boyfriends anyway."

_Was he hinting at something? Is he asking me to go with him? Maybe he wants me to ask instead? What if I'm wrong and I'm reading too much into his words? Maybe he just wants me to bring someone-preferably my 'boyfriend'. Which I have none. This means if I show up alone, I'll look like a stupid and now __single__ loser._

Natalie remained unmoved even when his car had disappeared from view moments ago. Sometimes, reading Heath is harder than solving a geometry problem. And that's really saying something.

_**Have you noticed how complicated boys are?**_

_**They're like puzzles that just don't have a solution to them.**_


	6. Basic Steps

_**Why I hate triangles…**_

It was a Tuesday and since she was still swimming in the murky waters of her last conversation with Heath, Natalie had a hard time concentrating on anything. She began to worry:

Had Valerie really accepted her?

Not that she was complaining, but why the sudden interest from Heath?

What did he mean about bringing her 'boyfriend' to the party?

Where is she going to get a boyfriend in less than five days?

Is she even invited to the party?

Heath

Heath

And well, Heath

Due to these things, it wasn't a surprise when Natalie completely forgot about her tutoring session, which would explain her panic when she opened her door at exactly noon and was face-to-face with Michael Krauss with a bike beside him.

He unbuckled his helmet and not even bothering to acknowledge her with a greeting, he asked, "Can I bring my bike in?"

"Wha-what are you doing here?"

"I told you I'd come," he shrugged. Natalie noticed with distain at his battered jeans and concluded another reason why she likes Heath; his clothes.

"I…" Natalie recalled his statement but she assumed he was bluffing. Thankfully her mother left to go to an errand at the bank, which means she won't be back for a while, and her father left for work early this morning. _If they had been here to witness this…_

"So can I bring my bike in or not?" the impatience of his voice was obvious.

"It's just a bike." She stared that the hunk of metal and rubber held together briefly by nails.

"It's my _only_ bike."

"This isn't a bad neighborhood. No one's going to take _that_." Michael recognized the annoying tone of her voice once again.

"It's going to rain later."

_It's already rusted_, but Natalie saved the thought for herself and instead widened the door for him.

Without a word she skipped the steps two at a time and fetched her backpack from her room, unmoved from the same location where she had first left it after school. By the time she was downstairs, she found Michael in the kitchen looking through the cabinets. She decided to get straight to the point, "how long will you be here?"

He shrugged, "I've already finished my homework, so as long as it takes for you to do yours I guess."

Natalie's mouth opened a bit as she comprehended the fact that he had already accomplished his homework. She hadn't even opened her backpack yet, let alone tackle her work. But then again, she figured Michael probably has nothing better to do than spend his day in his room by himself. She, on the other hand, has a social life. She thought back to Valerie. _Kind of._

He opened a top drawer and grabbed a cup, filling it with ice and water. Sarcasm dripped with her words, "help yourself."

"I don't expect you to wait for me."

_Well, when he put it that way…_ Natalie hated him for turning the situation around.

He nodded at the table before him, "sit."

She sat. _Partly because I wanted to and he happened to be suggesting the same thing, _she persuaded herself. The realization of what will happen next occurred to her. _I hate geometry and it apparently hates me enough to get me a tutor, so why bother? _

"So how did you get my address in the first place?" she stalled as she pretended to have trouble finding her math book.

He groaned, "Give me a break. I have better things to do than stalk you. Mrs. Cullen suggested that we meet afterschool everyday so she figured I'd need your address."

"Everyday?" her heart dropped.

He scoffed, "I didn't choose to spend this much time with you either."

"Then why didn't you just choose to lie?" Things would've been so much better in her point of view.

"Because I need this job."

She arched her eyebrows, suddenly curious as to why he was so determined to help her with her pathetic grades when they barely knew each other. _Maybe he's not that bad._

Seeing her skeptical reaction, he said, "Mrs. Cullen started a new summer program this year. Usually only seniors are offered but the sooner I get accepted, the better. She said if I can bring your grades up, I have an automatic spot on the team." He tapped his math book since Natalie forgot to keep pretending to search for hers.

Natalie felt like she'd been slapped. _Mrs. Cullen had to actually __pay__ him to tutor me._ She felt like she'd just sky rocketed to her humiliation level.

She frowned, "I think I'm going to make a sandwich. Do you want-"

He gripped her wrist, an irritating habit Natalie started to perceive, "no. I'm not here to watch you make sandwiches. You can procrastinate all you want, just don't do it on my time."

She let out a huff in defeat as she was forced to sit back down. "This sucks."

"Yeah, too bad." He shrugged in agreement, making his reluctance to spend time with her obvious. He looked back at the book, "I need to you tell me all that you know. And when we go over the concepts, you need to stop me if you get lost. There's no point in pretending that you understand them when you don't, okay?"

She knew from his tone that it was a practiced speech. Due to his lack of sympathy before, she stated, "you're a study geek."

"And you're a dumb jock."

"I'm not a dumb jock."

He pointed to a random problem from her homework, "Prove it." He grinned at his own joke.

She prevented herself from sticking her tongue at him, knowing he will also add childish next to 'dumb jock'. She stared at the problem and a triangle looked back at her. She tensed, sensing how clueless she must seem right now.

He handed her a pencil, "you'll be needing this."

"Erm, right." She took the pencil and read the problem. She read it again. She shuffled a few papers around and drew the proof table. She erased it and drew it a second time.

"Are you unconditionally dense or are you trying to make this inconveniently difficult?"

"Are you paid to make me feel stupid too?"

He had the decency to look regretful as he said, "you don't know where to start?"

She frowned, "no."

He looked surprise, "how about we start with basic terms?" _Basic? I don't know anything that's 'basic' simply because there's nothing basic about geometry._ "Tell me, what do you know about triangles?"

Silence. He frowned, "nothing?"

Natalie shook her head.

"Then what do you do in class?"

_Stare at Heath._ She bit her lip, "I lose concentration."

He stared at her, his eyes piercing through her without meaning. After a moment of silence, he sighed, "we have a lot of work to do."

_**They involve too much concentration to understand and we all know how well I am at that department.**_


	7. Heels Over Head

_**Why I hate having habits…**_

Natalie arrived ten minutes early to Gabrielle High and strolled around the halls. Her mission: to find Michael Krauss. She has traveled the school far and wide, determined to seek Michael out as if her life depended on it-simply because it does.

She knew her mother will not be stopping by the bank anytime soon and her father had decided to stay home for the afternoon. Normally, Natalie would have been delighted at the news, relieved to finally see her father in the familiar background of their home, but with Michael coming after school that same day for tutoring sessions, Natalie was more in shock and horrified than anything. Her parents can't possibly find out she's being tutored. Once they realize her grades are dropping, they'd pull her off the team themselves.

She had just about given up, faced with the fact that she will have to talk to him in geometry class to her reluctance, when she saw the already oddly familiar brown head of hair heading in the opposite direct. She sprinted towards the unsuspecting figure, not even daring to risk shouting his name.

Thankfully, he didn't shriek like a girl as she had expected when she abducted him to a remote corner of the halls. "We need to reschedule," without waiting for a pause, she rushed the words through her lips, "I have practice afterschool but I need to stay later to work on my art project. I won't be home until late in the evening since Mrs. Albano offered to stay with me as long as I needed so you have to come at seven." She figured Michael wouldn't dare go to her house alone when she's purposively 'working on her project' at school. A part of her felt guilty for her trickery but she reasoned that it wasn't a complete lie considering she _is_ behind on her art project.

"Are you done?"

She nodded, waiting for him to make things difficult for her as always.

Instead, he narrowed his eyes, "don't ever do that again." Then he turned and walked the other way.

***

"Natalie, a moment please."

Natalie paused before the door of D113 and turned to look at Mrs. Cullen. _What now? She can't possibly assign me __two__ tutors._

"I've been meaning to talk to you," her geometry teacher added when Natalie refused to take a step closer to her desk, "please, have a seat."

Reluctantly, Natalie sat down, feeling the hard wooden chair pressed against her once more for the second time that week. "What is it?" she tried hard to keep the wariness from her voice but failed miserably.

"I've been trying to call your parents-" Natalie tensed at the thought-"and I haven't been able to reach them. Is there anything wrong?"

Natalie looked at her, "no. Everything is fine."

Mrs. Cullen nodded thoughtfully.

"Is this about my…grade?"

She leaned forward and propped her elbow on her desk, a habit that occurs whenever she's trying to make a point understood within the class. "You see, Natalie, Michael's parents had made the exchange quite… difficult. They were concerned about the amount of time the tutoring sessions might absorb. Of course, we understand full well that Michael is a busy student."

Natalie was really beginning to feel curious as to what a guy like Michael has to do. A new surging hope erupted through her as the thought of Michael canceling entered her mind. After his coldness this morning, she held no sympathy for him and could care less if he quit.

"Of course, it was because of the fact that he is a well achieved student that we chose him to pull your grades up considering your situation at hand." She smiled politely, "His parents are willing to let him continue this contribution, but an addition will be made."

"Meaning?"

"We can't fund for a tutoring session, especially if it's a program for one specific student and not for the whole school. This is the reason why I've been trying to contact your parents. They need to be able to fund for his addition. Do you know where I can reach them?"

_Was she so dumb that they had to pay Michael extra?_ "They've been busy lately. My dad's out of town and mom has been running errands for her job." Natalie once again defended herself from her deceit since her parents have been busy lately. Separately. Her dad has been spending so much time at work it seemed as if he's living in a completely different place and her mother has been especially busy herself-with what, Natalie has no idea.

Mrs. Cullen frowned, clearly not satisfied with the answer, "please tell me whenever one of them is available. It'll be respectable to do this as quickly as possible since it wouldn't be fair to Michael."

_We all want what's best for Michael, don't we?_ "I'll see what I can do."

***

It took her a while to recognize where she stood in Valerie's point of view, but eventually, Natalie had it figured out. During practice after the oddly casual day in math considering Michael pretended as if nothing had happened between them-_although nothing really did_-and also the brief meeting with Mrs. Cullen, Valerie made no effort to save Natalie a spot within her group and Natalie didn't dare to cross her territory without approval. When practice ended, Wendy allowed the door to slam in her face and even then her flicker of hope died.

Natalie sighed as she randomly spun her locker, not even taking the effort to insert her real combination. Things are now even worse than before. Aside from the first few days of school, Valerie had ignored her and although it had bothered her a lot, she had no reason to complain. Now, ignorance is a bliss compared to the casual effort Valerie and her friends took to clarify the fact that she wasn't accepted.

Usually Natalie changed in a completely separate part of the locker rooms to avoid any unwanted disapproval of her bare existence but today was not a usually day. After all, it wasn't every day that Valerie invites her to a party and Natalie ditches her to talk to her future tutor. However, if Valerie hadn't completely rejected her and if she's oblivious to that fact and continued the routine, then Valerie will receive the wrong idea.

To solve her internal conflict, Natalie chose to a happy medium and was rewarded when Valerie looked up.

"Nat, I didn't notice you there. Where were you last practice? You just left with Melanie without a word." Valerie's voice took an offensive tone.

"I had a crisis." She was beginning to like that lie.

Raina looked worried, "what happened?"

Natalie froze, never expecting anyone to press for details. Heath hadn't when she fed him the same 'lie' so the idea never came to her. "My mom…had an accident."

"Is she alright?" Wendy asked.

Natalie nodded. Either she start coming up with a new excuse or her mom is going to be in a lot of accidents.

"So what about Freddy's? You going?" Wendy closed her gym locker and stood beside Valerie.

Natalie looked at the two and took in a breath, taking in the filthy air filled with dust and sweat. She nodded quickly, not even caring if she seemed too eager now that she can't risk the chance of missing this opportunity.

Valerie frowned, "but your mom's car was in an accident. How are you going to get there?"

"Um…"

"I guess I can pick you up. It's probably not a long way from my house." Valerie flashed her a smile that Natalie couldn't help but return.

"Wow, yeah, that would be great. Thanks. Here," she ripped a piece of paper from her notebook-she was secretly glad it was for math-and gave her address. She realized she'd been doing that a lot lately. Lying too. Since when did she get all these habits?

"I hope your mom feels better," Raina said as she paused with Wendy just outside the locker doors to wait for Valerie.

Valerie caught up with them, giving Natalie a "see you tomorrow."

Even after the door slammed shut Natalie still had the smile plastered on her face. She was in. She was invited.

She thought back to her conversation with Mrs. Cullen earlier and Michael's coldness. She was also in over her head.

_**My list of habits hasn't always been short. I can never find the right words when I'm nervous. Whenever I talk to people like Heath I would say something stupid. I chew my nails when I'm bored. I sing whenever I'm showering-even when I'm in the locker room with Valerie I can't help but hum a bit. And the list seems to keep growing! Now I can't seem to keep my address a secret and I've been lying constantly. What is going on?**_


	8. Apology Not Accepted

_**Why I hate labels…**_

Tick.

Tock.

Tick.

Tock.

Natalie gripped the edge of the table and gritted her teeth at the unbearable silence as she reread the math problem before her.

_If a triangle has_-Tick.

_If a triangle has two_-Tock.

_If_-Tick.

She couldn't take it anymore, "what's wrong with you?"

Michael looked up, confused at her sudden out burst, "What?"

"Why are you all..." she waved her hand in exaggeration.

His eyes narrowed and his cold masked expression slid back into place as if it had never left, "all _what_?"

"All quiet and-and annoying-and, ugh!"

"What's _your_ problem?" he spat at her, anger flaring at the reaction of her words.

Her eyes widened as she realized what she'd just done. She took in a deep breath and sighed. Her problem? She rubbed her temples as if she had a headache. "Sorry," she mumbled, "I just have a lot of things going on."

Things like her mom. She began to notice the sudden stillness that wrapped around her house, suffocating her. When it had been just her dad who would disappear, her mother was always there to suffer from his absence. Although the two don't have much to talk about, it was always comforting to know there was someone else with her whenever she's home. Now, her mother has been vanishing too. It seemed as if there was a sudden rush to go places. Her dad was never home and now her mom acted as if she was running away.

She couldn't stand the stillness, the vociferous hushed tone that had become so accustomed to the air she breathed. It got to the point where she was actually _glad_ Michael was coming over-tutoring or not. It had been pointless for her to hunt him down in the halls since her mom had left without another word right when she got home from practice. Natalie was left inside the empty shell skeleton of her so-called home, sitting in the empty atmosphere as the clock ticked away the vacant silence.

"Save your problems for your own time."

She sent daggers at him with her eyes. She did not expect any sympathy from him-she knew him well enough to know he thinks she doesn't deserve any-but he didn't have to be so empathetic either. "What's _your_ problem?" she heard herself ask, the question being hurled around the walls and bouncing throughout their numerous implied meanings. Ever since he had set foot in her house he wore that stoned mask of his as if he's incapable of feeling any emotion.

His stiff expression hardened the barest hint as he muttered, "nothing."

She frowned, feeling her forehead wrinkle with the effort, "tell me."

"No. You don't have time for this." As if to prove a point, he tapped at her math book.

She crossed her arms across her chest and Michael knew right then she was not going to let this go. "I have plenty of time." She doubt either of her parents will be home anytime soon.

"Why do you care?"

"It's one thing to know someone hates you, but it's another to know _why_ they hate you."

"I don't hate you."

He heard her let out a rude snort, "give me a break."

He saw her point, "I only hate what you did."

"Look, I said I was sorry about my outburst. I just can't stand the silence." It wasn't until the words had slipped through her lips that she realized how true they were.

"Whatever."

"What do you mean whatever?" She was getting tired of his empathy. "I had the decency to apologize for something I didn't even intend to do, the least you can do is acknowledge it."

"Who said you apologized for the right thing?"

Then it dawned on her, "you can't seriously be mad about the money right? I haven't had the time to talk to my parents"-which was true; she still has no idea what she was going to do about that-"but you don't need to worry, we won't rip you off."

Now he looked offended, "is that what you think of me?"

She rolled her eyes, seeing the irony of his insult at being labeled, "it isn't any better than what you thought of _me_." _A dumb jock._ She'll never forget that.

He quoted her words, "how about you give _me_ a break? I don't care if you call me a geek or a nerd, those I can deal with, but you can't add selfish between those names. I don't care how cool you think you are, I'm not going to let you push me around as if being popular gives you that privilege."

"I don't think I'm cool!"

"Yeah, whatever." There was that word again. She was beginning to hate that word.

"Fine. If you're so convinced that you know what I think of myself, then tell me what _you_ think."

"Didn't 'dumb jock' sum it up the first time?"

She narrowed her eyes, "you better stop calling me that."

He leaned closer, something flared in the reflection of his eyes, "All you care about is running and nothing else; not even your future."

"Running _is_ my future."

"You throw yourself at the popular crowd just to seem like you have friends."

"I _do_ have friends!" _Just because I want Valerie to like me doesn't automatically make me a social-obsessed snob!_

"Basically, you live by only one rule; if they're not in your advantage, then they're not worth it."

She refused to believe it, "that's not true."

His face slipped on his cold mask, "you don't even know my name and I see you everyday."

"I said I knew who you were!"

"What class do we have with each other?"

"Math." She added an eye-roll for effects.

"And…?"

They stared at each other for a moment, holding an internal battle as neither refused to surrender. Suddenly it dawned on Natalie, "this is it, isn't it? This is why you're mad. Because I don't know you're name."

His mask hardened once more as he pursed his lips. He returned to their previous topic, "Exactly. You didn't even know we have two classes together."

She ignored his attempt to side track her, "oh, come on. There are a lot of people's names that I don't know."

"Yeah, everyone that you deem unworthy."

"I don't have the authority to deem _anyone_ unworthy!"

"Good," he slammed his math book closed, indicating the session was over, "I'm glad we agree on something for once."

_**Labels. Are. Stup**__**id. And why are labels stupid? Because they are a way for people to categorize things as a method to understand them. Our search for meaning within others is inherently a search for meaning within ourselves. But in the end, as disregarded and disdained as this fact might be, labeling someone teaches more about the person doing the labeling than the person being labeled.**_


	9. Who You Are

_**Why I hate coffee…**_

Natalie snatched a bag of Starbucks coffee beans from the shelf above. She turned on the coffee maker, her arm brushing against the refrigerator. An apple-shaped magnet hit the ground, nearly stubbing her toe. She bent down and picked up the piece of paper it was holding and mindlessly returned it to its original occupation. The glistening of a sticker caught her eye and she took another look in curiosity.

It took her a moment to recognize the wrinkled piece of paper, the corners curling and yellowing around the edges through time, but once she remembered what it was, the acknowledgment was unmistakable.

Third grade. That's when she wrote it. It was nothing special, just a simple writing assignment she had been reluctant to start but couldn't stop once captivated by her own imagination. They had to share it with the entire class and vote on who's was the most 'motivating', as her teacher, Mrs. C-something, had put into her own words since it was never a good thing to pick favorites. Surprisingly, she won and went home with one of those commonly found cotton ribbons to prove it.

It was the only time she had ever won anything. It was also the first time her parents had ever been truly proud of her, let alone paid any sort of attention to her in the past year ever since the arguing started.

***

A wide-eyed girl stared out the window, the sunlight warming her blushed cheeks as she thought back to the moment she had stood in front of her friends. She was preoccupied with her own personal childish dreaming to notice the yelling traveling from the driver's seat.

"You said _you_ were going to pick her up," she subconsciously heard the man shout into his cell phone. _Who are you_, she wanted to ask the stranger but she easily swatted the question away from her cloud of thoughts.

She remembered hearing that it was dangerous to talk on the phone and drive at the same time, but she disobeyed her instincts and went on to counting the mailboxes as they whipped by at such a frightening yet exhilarating speed.

The other end of the receiver shouted something equally revolting towards the man as he screeched the car to a halt. He ripped the keys out of the vehicle in a hastily movement, accidentally pressing the steering wheel. The blaring of the honk shattered the tranquil neighborhood. The slamming of the car door quickly followed.

The little girl trailed the stranger as he flung open the door. "Why weren't you there?"

"I told you I was booked full! How could I have possibly picked her up?" The woman jabbed a finger at the little girl as she stared at the tall silhouette of the man. _Who are you?_

"I had to miss an important meeting because of this!"

"All your meetings are important! All my appointments are important too, you know!"

The little girl stared at the new stranger with mortified curiosity. Her blond hair was wind-blown, as if there had been a sudden rush of wind from one of the opened windows or perhaps it was reflecting the mental surge of overwhelming emotions. Deep winkles marked the edges of her once bright eyes, eyes that in this frustration seemed bolting and nearly mad.

She set her backpack on the furniture nearby and as the rocking chair swayed tenderly at the increased weight, something in the back of her mind fluttered like the wings of a butterfly on the flower of an elongated forgotten memory.

As always, she ignored it and headed for the fridge. She needed to put this ribbon in display to show her hard work. Maybe Mama will let her have ice cream for dessert as her reward. Or maybe, even better, she can have ice cream as dinner instead of the gross stuff Mama always make. She rose on her toes, stretching her arm to reach her favorite magnet-the one shaped like an apple, its red a bright rosy hue.

She accidentally knocked off a cup and a shattering of glass could be heard, slicing the argument drifting from the living room and the silence suffocating the neighborhood in half. The unknown woman rushed in and grabbed her roughly by the shoulders.

"No, no! Don't pick that up! Did you cut yourself?" The stranger examined the child's arms, her eyes roaming for any cuts or scratches that might reveal her clumsiness.

_Who are you?_

The little girl shook her head.

"What were you doing?" the man questioned.

She didn't speak but simply lifted her ribbon and her story- now decorated with the help of her favorite teacher, Mrs. Cynn-as a response.

"What's this?" the woman took the story from her small hands.  
The man examined the blue ribbon, "Did you win this?"

The little girl nodded and pointed to the fridge.

For the first time, the woman smiled, her lips stretching to meet her eyes that still did not dance with the same happiness and contentment that had been familiarized with but it was enough of a change to create another flickering in the child's mind.

_Who are you_, she wanted to ask again, but she didn't feel the need to waste such words. The little girl grinned, proud of herself for the second time that day to accomplish another goal. She stared at her story and her ribbon, now displayed for everyone to see as she stared upwards at the woman who was no longer a stranger, "can I have ice cream for dinner?"

***

"You're up early."

Natalie jumped, causing her to spill coffee on the counter. She quickly wiped up the mess before it could spread, "I didn't see you there."

"Is that coffee?" Her mother picked up the coffee maker and poured herself a cup. It was such a foreign movement, one that Natalie had been used to seeing every morning but hadn't in the past few years.

"Um, it's chocolate milk." Natalie stared at the pitch black liquid sloshing in her cup.

"Since when do you drink coffee?"

_Since when do you start paying attention?_ She eyed her mother's clothes, ignoring her question, "going somewhere?"

Her mother flashed her the first smile she'd seen in months, "I'm meeting Lisa at the coffee house." She eyed the cup in Natalie's hands, "are you sure that's not coffee? Coffee makes you short." She dangled the statement in the air as if it held any warning towards her daughter.

_Lisa?_ Natalie doesn't remember an Aunty Lisa. "I think I'm tall enough already." She has long legs, one of the many minute things that enhance her running. As if to make a point she lifted her mug and took a sip, "a little bit would actually help more than harm."

"Doesn't it also shrink you brain?"

She froze, thinking about Michael and the tutoring. "Nope. No brain shrinkage going on up there." _Simply because there is no brain to shrink._ "So, do I know this Lisa?"

Always being the helpful mother that she is, she replied, "no."

"When did you meet her?"

"A few weeks ago at the local bank."

"Oh, so a new friend." She concentrated on the coffee cup, looking everywhere but her mother. For some reason, Natalie was relieved. This would explain her mother's odd disappearance and unusual interest in spending her free time at Liberty Bank.

"You sound as if I'm some rebellious teenager and Lisa is my new boyfriend," Mrs. Johnson teased.

_Boyfriend_. She thought about Michael and the tutoring again. "Aren't you going to be late?"

She looked at her watch, "oh, right." She leaned in to kiss her daughter on the cheek, "I'll call her over some day. You'll absolutely love her. She's hilarious. I couldn't stop laughing after this story she told me about her ex-husband."

Her mother let out a chuckle, as if remembering an old forgotten memory that brought back the laughter of the past. She had never seen her mother laugh before. It took her a while to identify the emotion elevating inside her. She hadn't realized how much she had missed her laughter. It was odd, seeing how someone could change so much within a few days. So much that she hardly recognize her own mother anymore.

Something flickered once more but was overshadowed by the blindfold in her mind. _Who are you?_

But she wasn't there to answer Natalie as the car disappeared from view.

_**Mothers know best.**_


	10. Dial B for Bad Timing

_Oh, how I love banners. Especially when my number of faithful readers are so small that I have to provide my own. But no worries, despite the lack of views/messages/ratings/encouragement/banners and anything else that might motivate a youngun like me, I still love all of you (meaning I will not cut off your daily dose of Natalie and Michael)_

_But if you don't know already, technology hates me. Fanfiction won't let my links work, so you're going to have to **message me** so that I can just send you the links. **Or, go to and search up iccypenguin. Go to 'iccypenguin's Album'-'My Banners'-'My Writing'-'Why It Happens'.**_

* * *

Natalie finally discovered what other class she has with Michael when she stepped into chemistry. She seems to be seeing Michael everywhere she went. From math. Down the hallways. Before she went to her locker. After school. It was as if he was stalking her, or-although Natalie refused to even consider the possibility-perhaps she was subconsciously stalking him.

_Either way, it doesn't matter_, she concluded. Michael never offered a hello and she never attempted to speak to him at school after that first time. It bothered her that even a geek like him couldn't bare the risk of being seen with someone like her in public.

But what annoyed her even more was her surprise when she spotted him sitting in the front row of her third period class. Why did it bother her so much? Because it proved that Michael was right about how oblivious she is to the people around her.

She was between staring at the back of his head, wondering if her aim with spitballs were good enough and half listening to Mr. Jorgensen ramble about some big project when she hit her knee against the table from the sudden vibration in her pocket. She slowly slipped her phone under her table and eyed the screen.

_Why didn't you call me back?_

Natalie sighed as she opened a blank message, knowing it was Amber since Hayley would never be so hostile. _Just couldn't. Sorry._

She stared at her response, pondering if it would satisfy Amber's sudden vigorous thirst for answers. It wasn't like she didn't want to call back; it was because she _couldn't_. Not without Michael hovering around her as he nagged her about the importance of triangles and risking the chance that Amber will hear him on the other line.

Immediately, her phone buzzed. _Sorry? For what exactly? Be anymore vague if you will._

She rolled her eyes. Only Amber could sound so intimidating from text. _Been busy with stuff._

_You do know my last comment was a term of expression, right? Sarcasm? Ever heard of that?_

Natalie glared at the screen, irritation flaring at the tone of Amber's nonexistent voice. _Of course I know what sarcasm is! I'm not stupid!_ She knew if she said those words to her best friend, she would never hear the end of it. Instead, she settled with a simple _I said I was sorry._

_How would I know you apologized for the right thing?_

Natalie paused as she stared at the familiar words before her. She didn't have a chance to reply when she heard "Ms. Johnson?" from the front of the room.

"W-what?' Her anger quickly flickering away as she stared at the front of the room, wide-eyed having been caught off guard. The entire class seemed to be boring their eyes through her.

"What are you doing?"

"Um, daydreaming. Sorry."

Mr. Jorgensen frowned, his glasses reflecting the florescent lights from the ceiling. He seemed to ponder whether to push the subject but thankfully, he was one of those teachers that decide things are better off by ignoring it. "Just pay attention next time."

Natalie nodded as she began to slide her hand toward her phone once more but he eyed her suspiciously and added, "Actually, move to the front of the room. Maybe you'll have fewer opportunities to daydream here."

Hastily, Natalie threw her things in her bag and scurried towards the only seat left in the front row, located on the far side of the wall. The rest of the class began to turn their attention back towards the board, or, for the ones who prefer doodling rather than daydreaming, back to their notebooks. But even when everyone else seemed too preoccupied to take notice of her embarrassment, she could still feel the intensity of Michael's piercing eyes.

* * *

Natalie's mother left three minutes before Michael arrived. Those were the longest, most nerve-wracking three minutes of her life. She was between mid-panic and mid-insanity when her mother lingered in showing Lisa their backyard garden-one that had long since died a few years before due to the lack of care and ignorance but was revived when Natalie found her mother bending over in knee deep weed one afternoon after school. Since Lisa was new in town, Natalie urged her mother to take her to Johnny's Rocket to show her how incredibly 'entertaining' the food industry is in this little town.

She was standing at the door step, suddenly relieved to see her mother's car turn a corner of the street, when Michael rode up the driveway on his rusted bike. He was wearing a helmet strapped onto his chin. _So uncool._

He coasted to a stop before her, "waiting for me?"

"Um," she suddenly realized how uncool _she_ must look, "no. I was just watching my mom drive away."

He arched his eyebrows, already steering his bike inside and taking part in their daily routine. "Do you always watch your parents leave?"

"No. I never watch them drive off." She felt like slapping her forehead once the stupidity of the words reached her brain.

He didn't say anything as they sat down in their usual seats. As he pulled out his math book, she decided she should say what had been on her mind for the past week before they begin. She'd been avoiding this subject as long as she could. She sighed.

He had his back turned as he reached for a cup from the cabinet above. "Um…Michael?"

Just then, the phone rang. Despite acknowledging this was an important subject they're about the discuss, she was relieved for the distraction.

"Hello?"

_"Natalie Ann Johnson. You are in deep trouble."_ Suddenly, her thankfulness refilled with dread. _"You didn't reply."_

"I got in trouble. Mr. Jorgensen almost gave me a detention for texting in class!" she whispered through the phone. Amber gave her a blunt statement so Natalie knows she'll need as much help as possible to bring her friend at an ease, even if it means exaggerated lies.

_"Oh."_ A slight hesitation from the other line could be heard before she decided to come back full force,_ "Well, what have you been doing?"_

Natalie felt a tap on her shoulder. She turned and saw Michael pointing at a cup. "What?" she snapped at him. This is not a good time.

_"I said, what have you been doing?"_

"Do you have anything to drink?"

"Um," she answered both of them, "Water."

Michael rolled his eyes to point out how obvious her answer was as she heard Amber let out a puzzled '_what_?'

"I mean, swimming! Yeah, I've been swimming."

Michael gave Natalie a questioning look, one that she can imagine Amber making on the other line.

"Swimming?" Michael mouthed in unison with Amber's voice.

Natalie nodded earnestly although she knew her friend couldn't see her, "yeah. Swimming. Heath-you remember Heath, right?-his best friend, Kyle Tanner, is on the swim team. He invited me to watch." It was a perfect lie. Kyle Tanner _is_ the captain of the swim team and although Natalie doesn't know if the two are best friends, she _is_ positive that the two hang out. _Score one for me!_ "It isn't like I can say no," she added for affect.

_"True. Did anything happen?"_

Natalie felt another tap on her shoulder. "It was, um, fun. Hold on." She gave Michael a questioning look.

"I don't want water."

"Look in the fridge," she whispered.

"I already did. There's nothing but ice water."

"Ice water is different than plain water."

"Is not."

"Is too."

"Is not!"

"It's either that or coffee!"

"Caffeine makes you short." He looked at her for a moment and then added, "It also damage your brain." If her phone had been a cordless one, she would have pounced on him right then.

_"Who is that?"_

"Who is what?" She almost forgot Amber was on the other line.

_"That voice. Is someone over? Is it Heath?"_

She decided to take the bait, "um, yeah. I have to go. Bye!" she slammed the phone down. She turned to Michael, hands on her hips to prevent herself from cracking her knuckles like the very first day at track practice.

He sipped his cup. "Water?"

**_When there's two people trying to talk to you at the same time, it's kind of hard to keep from screaming in frustration. If you know there's someone else talking, the least you can do is call later. Preferably on a cordless phone._**

* * *

Why I hate phone calls…


	11. Killer Dress

**~*~ **_Liz's name has been changed to Amber._

_**

* * *

**_

Why I hate dresses…

_I'm going to die. This is how it's going to end. Amber__**~*~**__ will hunt me down and bomb me with hundreds of questions and I'll drown in them._

"Natalie."

She jumped, "what?"

Michael frowned at her lack of concentration, "are you done with that problem yet?"

"Erm, right. Just give me a minute." The truth is, she hasn't even start yet.

His relentless eyes stared at her with more concentration than she was capable of summoning, making her all the more twitchy. She decided this is as good a time as any. "Michael?" She was almost hoping for another phone call to interrupt her. _Nope, apparently wishful thinking never work._

"Mhm?" He flipped through a page in the book as an excuse to do something.

"You're not going to tell anyone, are you?"

He looked up and Natalie couldn't help but notice his brilliant blue eyes. "Tell anyone what?"

"You know," she shifted, "that you're tutoring me?"

He cocked his head to the side in curiosity. "You want to keep it a secret?'

"No, I don't care." She hesitated. "Well, yeah. I mean, if my parents knew I was being tutored, they'd pull me off the team."

"We wouldn't want that, would we?"

He received her best annoyed look, "no, 'we' wouldn't." She knew from the beginning he would not understand why she requested this of him, hence making it even harder to bring the topic into discussion in the first place.

He shrugged in response. "I haven't told anyone yet, have I?" Silence. It wasn't a good enough answer for her to be assured. He added to her satisfactory, "It's not interesting enough for me to discuss with other people."

"Good." At least she got what she wanted in the end, despite the ego hit.

"Is that it?" It was a voice that he used to express his disdain of everything not related to a burning need to learn. It was becoming easier and easier to read his emotions.

"Yeah."

Silence settled once more as she stared at the meaningless jumble of numbers before her.

"Natalie?"

"Mhm?" She bit her lip as she thought back to her talk with Mrs. Cullen about the additional payment. She knew that was going to bite her back sooner or later.

"About the…money." He felt her body coil with tension and he paused.

"What about it?"

"Are you…how are you going to pay?"

"Don't worry," she flipped a page in her book, "I'll get to it."

He shook his head and ran his hand through his hair, "it isn't that…"

Natalie gave in to her own guilt at putting him through this and looked up, meeting his frustration. "It isn't what?"

He looked at her, seeing something he never would have thought she was capable of. Sympathy. Oddly, this made it much harder for him.

She crossed her arms in an arrogant way, the previous emotion washed away with something that he couldn't quite describe. Suddenly, he was able to arrange his visage from the familiarity of her hostility. "I doubt your parents are going to pay you when you refuse to give them a reason."

Her eyes skipped to the kitchen counter, where the daily newspaper lay unopened. "I have it under control."

His eyes suddenly narrowed, "if you're going to lie to them about it…"

She looked appalled for a second. Scamming her parents was something she would never do but she didn't bother to explain that to Michael when he obviously hold no interest in her capability of self morals. "What if I lie?" she challenged, "You're just not going to take the money?" It would be a pretty good idea if it comes to that.

"No. I'd tell your parents."

Her heart skipped a beat but she refused to slip the mask off her face, "why is it so important to you?"

"I'm doing this for a reason."

"Yeah, for Mrs. Cullen's internship. What I don't understand is why your dad has to be so difficult with adding the extra payment."

"My dad isn't being difficult."

"Yes, he is. You already have your part of the deal. Why add more to it?"

"He has his reasons."

She clenched her fists, "you know the reason why I'm doing this."

"That doesn't mean you need to know why _I'm_ doing this."

"Natalie? Who's this?"

Her head snapped open and she faced her mother standing by the doorway. _Crap. _"You're home already?"

"It's eleven-thirty."

Michael cursed under his breath. "Eleven-thirty? I have to go home."

Mrs. Johnson blocked the door swiftly despite her high heels. "What's going on? Who's this?" She looked expectantly at Natalie.

How is she going to explain this? She subconsciously scanned the table littered with books and notes sprawled throughout the area. "Um… this is Michael Krauss."

Michael shook her mother's hands then continued to shove stuff into his backpack, completely oblivious towards Natalie's fear.  
"Were you two…studying?" Her mother was digging for information but the genuine skepticism couldn't be missed.

Michael looked up, "yes, I'm her…" He saw Natalie's expression and faltered without knowing why.

"Boyfriend!" she shouted and jumped to her feet. "Michael's my new boyfriend." _Oh god._

His mouth dropped open and he gaped at her in disbelief. She knows she's going to pay for it later. Before he could blow her cover, she grabbed his arm and shot him her most pleading look. _Please go along with this._ She zipped his backpack and pushed it at him. "You have to go. I'll see you tomorrow."

"Natalie…" His voice seeped in venom.  
"Tomorrow. I'll see you tomorrow. Thanks for studying with me." She shoved him out the door and slammed it shut.

She leaned back for a moment when she realized her mother was still staring at her cynically. Natalie knew Ann could smell tutor dripping from every part of her desperate body.

"Boyfriend? Since when did you get a boyfriend?"

She blinked. _She bought it?_ "Um…we just started dating." She crossed her fingers behind her.

"I'm not comfortable with the two of you being alone in the house. Un-chaperoned."

Natalie nearly choked on her laughter. _As if anything would happen with Michael. I mean_, "I understand."

"Why didn't you tell me he was coming over?"

Natalie sensed an ultimatum coming. Her mother was not done. What if she banned her from dating him? What is she going to do then? "He's a straight-A student," she blurted.

Ann blinked at her, taken aback with this sudden statement. She lifted her eyebrows, "And?"

"He's a major math geek." Her father is a physics professor at a local university and her mother once majored in accountancy. Their interests are the total opposite of what hers are. "He loves science, too. Did I mention straight A's?"

She could feel her mother relax at the thought of having the 'child they've never had', as Natalie usually called it. She continued to ramble, "He's not into sports. At all. He actually hates them. He's more about education and school."

Pulsing silence echoed through the house. Then, "why don't you invite him to dinner so we can get to know him better?"

Her mother was falling for it, but she isn't naïve. Natalie knows her mother; she needs proof before she's a believer. Natalie also knows Michael would never go along with it. Ever. "Um…"

Seeing her daughter's hesitation, Ann drew her line, "Dinner or no dating. I'm not going to allow you to have a boyfriend that I don't know and approve of."

"I'll…see what he says."

"Good." Her mother smiled, suddenly brightening in her mood, "we went shopping tonight and Lisa picked out this gorgeous dress for you."

Natalie sighed. She never wears dresses. She never did and she never will. She wonders when her mother stopped paying attention to that fact.

But dresses are the least of her worries. Amber is going to murder her tomorrow. Then, Michael will hunt her down and kill her again. Then his dad will murder some more. And if she's still alive long enough to actually wear a dress bought by her mother's one and only friend who probably has horrible taste like all the friends mothers make, _she'll_ be the one of indebted suicide.

_**Dresses are such a waste of money when I don't even wear them. Sometimes, I wonder if my mother is mocking me on purpose.**_


	12. Breaching Walls, Building Lies

_Hey you! Yeah, I'm talking to you! You're **the person who's been skipping my chapters. I have one word for you: Don't**. ALL of my chapters are important to the story, even if they might seem like they're really not. My chapters are here to help build the main plot of the story, and if you miss them then you're practically playing Jenga and sooner or later those pieces are gonna come tumbling down and you'll have no idea what the story's about. You got meh? =)_

_**

* * *

**_

_**Why I hate protective walls…**_

"Hey, Johnson!"

Natalie looked past Valerie's blazing red hair, her eyes meeting a stranger's. The fair-haired boy nodded towards her direction.

_Alex, _the wind whispered_. His name is Alex. _She wondered why Alex Connor suddenly decided to talk to her. She knew who he was-one of the exclusives in Heath's group-but she never would have thought he would talk to her, let alone know her name. Well, her last name.

"You up for Freddy's Saturday night?"

She nodded.

"Cool, see you there." He grinned at her as he walked on by.

It had only been a few days since her last interaction with Heath and to her utter surprise and secret delight, a few noticed her walking with him. It was another philosophy she had learned: with people like them, you're always being watched. You're always going to be judged on what you do, how you do it, and whom you're doing it with. She had to constantly remind herself not to do certain things when she's in the presence of Valerie. No, don't touch your hair. You're too self-conscious. Don't take that coke, grab a water bottle instead. You can't wear that shirt because it has a stain on it.

There seems to be a helping hand, ready to tap her shoulder as a remembrance of how close she had come to making a mistake. But she thought of it as more than just a reminder. Big things are happening to her life right now, so shouldn't an even bigger force be the cause of all this? She imagined herself with a devil and an angel, resting on her shoulders. Only her devil seemed to be in an enchantment, frozen through time, while her angel remained, always ready to tap subconscious mind.

And every time she finds herself hesitating, she would remind herself that angels don't lie. No matter how nerve-wracking it is, knowing anything she does would be permanently marked on the lead alpha's social chart, it doesn't change the fact that it's amazing to be exclusive. Every time she finds herself doubt the dragging hesitation that seemed to pull at her consciousness, she would remember how Valerie would smile at her, always welcoming her to the vacant spot next to her and her angel would appear in a puff of smoke. Now, she was so used to being inside, she can barely feel the guilt of pushing Wendy outside by dominating her position. But it didn't matter because whenever she looked at Wendy she would always be smiling. It was as if she was secretly saying; _Go on, you're finally making your way to the top. You belong there._

Her devil had woken up once and whispered to her ear; _the higher you are, the harder you fall._

But her angel won't ever let her fall. After all, it's why they have wings.

***

Natalie slammed the locker shut.

"Hey, Nat." Valerie was used to calling her that now, ever since that first time on the track. "You need a ride?" Her car keys swing around in circles, attached to the key ring around her finger.

"No. I'm fine," she smiled to make her gratitude obvious. The truth was, she had been looking forward to staying here.

"You sure?" Valerie pressed.

Her smile faltered for a second as she forced herself to lie another time. "Yeah."

Valerie suddenly stepped forward, her eyes bearing into Natalie. Natalie felt the instinct to step back. It was true, she's now the new girl that gets to sit next to Valerie, but there was an unspoken truce that even Natalie had figured out right from the start: there's always a protective wall, a bubble of implicit authority and confidentiality that separates the queen from her lowly subjects.

Valerie popped that bubble with a single question, "are you intimidated by me?"

_Yes._ "No." _Did I do something wrong, _she wanted to ask her angel. There was no reply.

They stared at each other for a second, both struggling to find true meaning behind the hidden corners of their words. Natalie furtively fidgeted under the sudden profound quality the air inside the bubble seemed to possess. She couldn't help but feel cornered like a prey, the three walls closing in, making the air heavier than it is.

Just as suddenly, Valerie broke out a smile, surreptitiously sealing back the seams broken by her, rebuilding her wall. "Just checking. I'll see you tomorrow."

All Natalie could do was nod as the queen walked away.

***

Natalie leaned against the door of the vehicle, attempting to look casual when deep inside she was coiling with tension and excitement. In the past, running was the best part of practice, but this is the present and in the present, Natalie isn't just someone on the team, she was someone that _belongs_.

_That's it. I don't feel awkward because this __shouldn't__ feel awkward. __Belonging__ shouldn't feel awkward._

She remained tensed in silence.

The car beeped once and its lights blinked twice. Heath walked toward her, "you're here already?"

"Um, yeah." She doesn't see what's wrong with being early. This was usually the time they meet.

"I just thought…Most girls take longer in the showers."

"Oh."

"So I heard from Alex that you're going to-"

"Natalie!"

The pair looked to the right at the sound of her name being bellowed. Michael stood a few feet away, his bike already at hand.

"You know him?" Heath arched an eyebrow.

"He's stalking me," she said as she jogged towards his direction. "Hold on."

It didn't take long for Natalie to reach him considering he was already approaching Heath's car but Natalie stepped in front of his bike to prevent him from going any further. "What are you doing here?"

"As your boyfriend, I can come see you practice, can't I?" There was no humor in his gaze.

If her heart hadn't been beating so loudly, she would have pointed out the fact that practice had already ended. But the guilt and fear swallowed her up so she didn't. "I'm really sorry about that. I panicked."

"And used me."

"No! I just… well, I wasn't thinking." She eyed him hopefully, seeing as he would understand just how well she thinks when she's doing anything math related. "But it's not so bad, right? I mean, maybe you could…keep it up? With my parents?"

His eyes darkened, "no, I can't."

She clenched her hands, "please? What would it hurt you?"

He lifted a brow but it didn't have the same desired expression when Heath did it. "You think you're so cool that it can enhance my reputation to be associated with you? Even as a lie?"

"No! I don't think I'm cool!" _Why do you always say that? _"Listen, can we talk about this later? I, um, have to go to practice."

His gaze flickered over her shoulder, spotting Heath leaning against his car. "Fine. Library at seven."

"Not my house?"

"Not until we set things straight with your parents. I'm not interested in being used."

"I wasn't using you!"

"Then what would you call it?"

His words slapped against silence. Natalie glanced over her shoulder to see if Heath was still there, wondering if he had decided she wasn't worth his time. To her utter horror, she spotted his silhouette slowly closing the distance.

Michael followed her gaze but he already knew who she could be staring at. "Who's that?" He already knew who Heath was too.

"Don't mess this up, Michael. Meaning: don't do anything idiotic," she whispered through gritted teeth.

The irony of her words skimmed past Michael, "do you like him?"

Natalie ignored his question, "Just be cool."

"I'm surprised you think I have it in me to be cool."

"Shut up, Michael. Don't you _dare_ tell him about the tutoring thing." She broke into a smile, "do you have to go?" For once, she wished he would leave without her.

He shook his head, not truly answering her question and eyed Michael, echoing his previous question, "Who are you?"

Michael hesitated for a second, and then threw his arm around Natalie's shoulder, hauling her against him. "Natalie's boyfriend."

_My __what__?_ She whirled around to kick him in the shin but the second she was facing him he had grabbed her by the shoulders and kissed her on the cheek. Then he quickly released her and flipped her a grin. "See you tonight, babe."

He took off before she could injure him.

"I didn't know you had a boyfriend." Heath stared at her, his brilliant hazel eyes gleaming with emotion. Accusing glare for leading him on? A sparkle of surprise at the thought that someone like her would have a boyfriend like him?

"Um…yeah, well…" she trailed off. She reached for her angel, hoping for some sign-a tap, perhaps-at how horrible things can become if she was exposed to having a tutor.

Somewhere near, the sound of metal against metal could be heard as a janitor walked out of the locker room closet, the sound so loud that it echoed in her mind.

He decided to spare her. "We should go."

***

Somewhere far above, a bird twittered a short melody and Natalie couldn't help but wonder why it didn't suffocate from the car's exhaust already. They'd been sitting in her driveway with the engine humming within the air like a swarm of disturbed bees. Heath stared ahead, refusing to make eye contact with Natalie. Not that she wanted him to. The eyes are the windows to the soul, she'd heard from somewhere, and without her angel, she doesn't want to know what her soul looks like.

"About the party." He paused and she waited beside the car door, frozen in her steps. "It's been changed. It's for cross-country members. Only people on the team can come, so I don't think you can bring your boyfriend."

It felt as if the car had crashed and her chest had slammed against something hard. _Why is he telling me this? Am I not invited? But I'm on the team, aren't I?_

Again, she heard the same whisper. _You belong._

Suddenly, her angel was back.

She nodded and she knew what she wanted to hear herself say-and maybe, also what he wanted to hear. "I'll still be there."

_**The thing about walls is that you know they're built for a reason: to keep people out. You always know when it's standing in front of you, almost as clearly as if you can see it. But despite that awareness, you'll never be able to predict when one collapses just as suddenly as one slams into you.**_


	13. Key to Disaster

_Give me a weekend meant for hardcore cramming and what do you get? Photobucket + Boredom = Chapter 12! Procrastinating is so weird cause I always get something done, even if it's not the thing that needed to be done. In other news, I lost my math book and my geometry final is tomorrow. I'm so screwed. Read and enjoy while I have a panic attack._

_While I attempted to distract myself from a permanent F in math, I made a few banners._

_But as always, nothing seems to be working for me-including Fanfiction since it refuses to show the link to those banners. So now you're going to have to **message me to see them**. **Or,** **go to and search up Iccypenguin. Go to 'iccypenguin's Album'-'My Banners'-'My Writing'-'Why It Happens' **and three of them should be there =)_

* * *

_**Why I hate satirical questions…**_

Michael bent over his chemistry book, opened at the random page that he happened to flip to. His intense blue eyes stared at the book but failed to comprehend the jumble of words that flew past his thoughts like crows in fog. His mind was still in shock and the image of Hudson's face consecutively playing in his mind didn't exactly help. A flickering flame of pride flashed at what he'd done to Natalie.

He quickly smothered his pride with guilt. How could he do such a thing? It was stupid. It was reckless. It was fast, quick…and surprisingly easy. If he had paused-even hesitated-for a brief moment in time, he would have faltered and failed at the act. The words formed through his lips so easily, his arm slung over her loose shoulders like the jungle vines hung on trees-it was natural.

Nonetheless, he should have hesitated.

Somehow, telling yourself what you'd done doesn't change what you _should_ have done. Instead, it makes it worse.

A heavy book slammed against the wooden desk, causing everything to jump-including Michael. "Good. I hope I scared the crap out of you."

He glanced at Natalie's eyes and guilt made room for repulsion. He disguised his disgust by flashing a grin and lacing his fingers behind his head, knowing how much it would annoy Natalie. "Doesn't feel so good to be on the other side, does it?"

She ignored his words. "What was that about? Didn't you hear me say not to do anything idiotic. You should know what that means considering you deal with idiots all the time!" She jabbed a finger at him accusingly, "you know that I like him. And now he thinks I have a boyfriend? How exactly do you think that's going to help me in any way?"

"Did it ever occur to you that I might already have a girlfriend?"

No response came to Natalie's mind.

The guilt was swelling inside him and he slapped the words at her, "you thought I was too much of a brain to have my own life?"

"No… I didn't think at all." Judging from how long he's spent with her and how much of a mess she'd caused in such a short period of time, he wasn't surprised by that statement. He saw her swallow a sudden lump in her throat. "Do you have a girlfriend?"

"Yes."

He couldn't help but wonder why Natalie inwardly winced at his answer, as if it physically hurts her to know even someone like him could be in a relationship. "Really?" Skepticism washed over her. "You're not just saying that?" She dropped into the seat across from him. "You're making it up."

He took his wallet out of his back pocket and tossed it across the table.

She stared at the wrinkled leather for a second before picking it up. At his nod, she opened it. A few fives in cash, an ATM card, a student ID…and a photo. Natalie pulled it out and looked at it. The girl had green eyes-the ones that has the ability to twinkle in any kind of light and a nice smile to match them. For some reason-perhaps it was the way her hair cascaded down her shoulders-Natalie was reminded of Valerie. The only thing that told her she wasn't a 'Valerie-type' was how her arms wrapped around Michael's waist. The answer was obvious, but Natalie asked anyway. "This is your girlfriend?"

Out of the corner of her eye, she saw the movement of Michael's nod. "Read the back."

She flipped it over.

'Michael,

You will always have my heart. Don't lose the key.

Kristin.'

Natalie hadn't seen this twist coming.

She carefully replaced the picture in an attempt to stall but when she handed it back to him, she still didn't have the slightest idea in what to do. "So, I guess the boyfriend thing is off, then, huh?"

"It would be off anyway." Michael shoved the wallet back in his pocket. "I'm your tutor, nothing more. If you have an issue with telling people that, then that's your problem. Not mine. I personally like being known as your tutor. Enhances my reputation."

"As a brain."

"Exactly."

Natalie crossed her arms in that stubborn way of hers. _Was he arrogant or what?_ She was used to athletes who thought the world revolved around them just because they can hit a few balls but never a smart person who thought his IQ made him better than everyone else. "Does Kristin," Natalie made a face when she said the name; it tasted odd to her, "go to our school?"

"No."

"What school? Doesn't she get mad that you have all this tutoring stuff going on? When do you see her?"

He opened his math book and closed his chemistry one. "She's in London. She graduated and got accepted a year early."

Her cell phone vibrated. "Hold on." She flipped open the screen. It was Amber.

_Emergency meeting. My house. Tomorrow after school. Don't you dare say you're busy._

Natalie bit her lip. She never liked emergency meetings because it's never about a good thing. The most memorable meeting Natalie could recall was when Amber disappeared after she realized Mr. Ortiz planned to fail her, which would ruin her five-year streak and possibly her chances of entering law school. It took Haley and Natalie two hours only to find her lying on the grass of the old park near the broken swings, half drunk and completely out of her mind.

But then again, the most recent meeting had to do with planning Hayley's puppy-Sara's-birthday, so the crisis range was pretty wide.

_I'll be there._

The last time she'd said those words, her happy meter had ranked over the top. Now? Not so much.

From the expression of Natalie's face, Michael started grinning.

"Why are you so happy? If everyone starts thinking I'm dating you, then they're going to think you're dating _me_. Won't Kristin be mad?"

"Oh, I can explain it. She'd actually think it's funny." He chuckled. "Guess you're getting payback for that lie, huh? How does it feel?"

"Shut up." Natalie forced her sluggish brain to function. So far, everyone-her parents and pretty soon the whole track team and consequently the entire school since most of the popular kids, including Valerie and Heath, will promote gossip-think she's dating Michael. And since she has to spend everyday with him after school for tutoring, there was no way she would be able to explain that it's just a rumor. Or maybe, she doesn't have to… "Do you think Heath will notice me more if he believes that I have a boyfriend? Don't guys like it when girls are taken?"

Michael's smile wavered and he shifted uncomfortably in the way guys get whenever you talk about girl related topics. "How would I know? I'm already taken as it is."

"It might work…We can pretend to date for a while-at least enough for Heath to want me-and then when we finish tutoring we can break it off."

"Are you deaf? I have a girlfriend."

"Well, if she's out of town, then the boyfriend thing shouldn't matter, right? Besides, you already said you could explain it."

"Yeah, but…"

"You have to hang out with me anyway. It wouldn't require you to do anything other than not deny it." Natalie leaned forward and narrowed her eyes, "No more kissing me, though."

His smug expression was back. "I thought it was a good move."

Natalie refused to give him the satisfaction. "You're not a good kisser."

"That wasn't all I've got."

There was no way Natalie was going to let the flush of embarrassment reach her cheeks. _Michael the geeky tutor with serious kissing skills and a hot girlfriend?_ Not at all what she'd expect. She slipped on the mask she wears just before a race by hardening her features and penetrating through her eyes. "What do you want?" It was, after all, a deal. He had to have another part of the bargain or else he won't stick around for it.

"I want to get to work. I'm not going to be stay here all night talking about some stupid contract."

"It isn't stupid if it'll work."

"It's a ludicrous fantasy of yours won't ever come true."

"Not all fantasies are ludicrous. What about dreams, futures?"

He stared through her, "some dreams are." She thought back to her set career as a runner.

"I'll bribe you to pretend you're my boyfriend."

"Let's start with chapter six." He opened her book and thumbed through the right page. "We'll start with a recap of what we learned in class, okay?"

"My dad's a physics professor at a local college."

She saw a flicker of interest on his face before he spun her book around to face her. "Did you take any notes in class?"

"He always hires a couple of people to do research for him over the summer." She crossed her fingers behind her back and even her ankles under the table. Based on Michael's math interest, she is hoping he's just as crazy about science.

"I'm sure he hires college kids." Michael pulled out the syllabus. "Judging from where we are and how much you know, we might not have enough time to go over everything that you've managed to miss. That would mean making sure you don't miss any more stuff during the lessons. That would also mean that you need to start paying attention and take notes."

"He wants you to come to dinner. So he can get to know you." Natalie tightened her grip on her fingers. So what if it had been her mom that had requested it? Same difference; they're both parents.

That got his attention. "Really?"

"Yeah. My parents are hoping you'll be a good influence on me. They'll do anything to keep you around if they believe you can get me to take school more seriously."

Michael tapped the end of his pen on the table in a thoughtful rhythm. "How do I know you're telling the truth?"

"Come to dinner and find out yourself. I'll talk you up from the job perspective and then you can grill him and see if it's legit. If it is, then you have incentive to stick around."

"And then when we 'break up'?"

"I'll make it seem amicable."

She began to see the glow of interest in his eyes, even behind his glasses. "If, and I'm only saying if, I go to dinner and I get convinced that the job opportunity is legit, then you can't 'break up' with me until I get the offer. And then, after that, the 'break up' will be on my terms so it doesn't mess up the job."

"I have my standards too." She took a moment to establish her terms. "The 'breakup' has to make me look desirable to Heath as well."

He nodded slowly. "We can probably make that work."

"Not 'probably'. It's a deal breaker. I want Heath."

"And I want the job."

They stared at each other with equally intense gaze, neither willing to give in the will to break the trance.

Finally, he shrugged. _What would it hurt? _"When's dinner?"

_**Because they always, always turn out for the worse.**_


End file.
